Not nearly as impactful as the previous classes have been. Especially if Armstrong is being deferred. The gem of the class is Cayden Primeau, who should be able to step in and challenge Ruck in net immediately. I for one think he should take the job by storm- Ruck is a goaltender with a career SV% just a tick higher than 90%, and this year he is sub 90% in all categories of SV% breakdown except for against non-NCAA teams from last year. Primeau should be able to be a 4 year starter for Northeastern.
The only defenseman we project to arrive next year is Darren Rizzolo, who is currently in the BCHL with a 1-5-6 line in 30 games for 2 teams. Other possibilities to arrive are AJ Villela ('98) who is in the USHL but not seeing much game time (17 games so far, 2-4-6 line), and Collin Murphy ('98, 2-9-11 in 30 USPHL games). Barring any early departures we will have 8 defensemen on the roster next year, so I do not expect many new ones to come in next season.
Forward is much more dicey. We stand to lose 3 of our 4 centers, possibly all 4 if Gaudette jumps. Sikura and Stevens are also possible flight risks. Those three plus JStevens and ZAR leaving would leave NU without their most prolific scorers from this year plus significant depth. The best forward coming in is Zach Solow, who has an 8-17-25 line in 25 USHL games for Dubuque. Brandon Schultz is an over-ager who has 16 points in 25 games. Depth forwards include Eetu Selanne and Austin Goldstein. Without any players leaving early NU will have 16 forwards, we project.
